PROBLEM OF EVIL Flashcards
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Theodicy
A justification of the righteousness of God, given the existence of evil
Soul-deciding
People’s response to evil decides their destiny
Soul-making
The presence of evil helps people to grow and develop
Privation of good
An absence or lack of good. A malfunctioning of something that in itself is good
Epistemic distance
A distance in the knowledge of God
Natural Evil
Evil + Suffering caused by non-human agencies
Moral Evil
Evil + Suffering caused by deliberate misuse of human free will
Privatio Boni
Used by Augustine to mean an absence of goodness
Free Will
The ability to make independent choices between real options
What is the Inconsistent Triad?
- a series of three propositions which cannot all be true at the same time
- This one is: God cannot be omnibenevolent and omipotent and have evil exist in the world
- Either he is not all loving or all powerful OR he doesnt exist
Who originally developed the Inconsistent Triad and who revised it
- Epicurus
- Mackie
What is Mackie’s revised Inconsistent Triad
- It only applies if you believe that God is “both omnipotent and wholly good”
- If evil exists, then God cannot be both omnipotent and wholly good
Describe the evidential problem of evil
- Observing the probability that a loving God would allow this extent of evil and suffering
- A posteriori: uses sense experience of evil
Describe Mill’s view on the problem of evil
- Nature doesn’t give evidence of a good, loving God
- Argues against the TA, saying that nature points to a sadistic God, if any at all
What are two strengths of using the evidential problem of evil
- The vastness of suffering is reason enough not to believe in God
- The suffering of innocents is particularly cruel (Dostoyevsky)
What are two weaknesses of using the evidential problem of evil
- Some argue that evil doesn’t actually exist (Monists) so we aren’t experiencing evil
- Experiences of evil and suffering are subjective
Describe the logical problem of evil
- Observing that evil is logically a problem because it challenges the very nature of God
- If the traditional attributes of God are true, then he would know how to, want to and be able to abolish evil
2 strengths of using the logical problem of evil
- Uses a priori reasoning to destroy God without using evidential arguments
- Removes need to believe in God by showing he’s not worthy of our admiration
2 weaknesses of using the logical problem of evil
- Can be overcome by changing your definitions of omnibenevolence and omnipotence
- Assumes that our understanding of love is correct, it could be developmental as argued by Hick
Natural Evil
Evil which is not caused by human wrongdoing e.g earthquakes
Moral Evil
Evil which is caused by human wrongdoing (e.g murder or war)
Describe how the natural and moral evil distinction is arguably unhelpful
- All evil could be argued to be moral evil- Adam and Eve is what corrupted the natural order
- At the same time, all evil can be argued to be natural evil as nature made us in such a way that we can feel mental and physical pain
